Date
12-19-2024
Department
School of Behavioral Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)
Chair
Tonya Gardner
Keywords
mindfulness, Christian accommodative mindfulness, women, African descent, anxiety, depression, self-compassion
Disciplines
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Recommended Citation
Kidd, Claudia Isaac, "The Effectiveness of Christian Accommodative Mindfulness in Christian Women of African Descent Who Suffer From Depression and Anxiety" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 6353.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/6353
Abstract
While existing research has indicated the effectiveness of Christian accommodative mindfulness (CAM) to lower symptoms of depression and anxiety, no CAM studies have focused specifically on Christian women of African descent (CWOAD). The aim of this exploratory, case-series study was to examine the effectiveness of the CAM protocol by addressing the participants’ intervention comparison outcomes time (PICOT) question: Among a clinical sample (N = 3) of CWOAD recruited from the waitlist of a Christian counseling center (P) how effective was the CAM protocol (I) indicated by changes over time (C) in the participants’ scores for (1) depression, (2) anxiety/stress, (3) self-compassion, and (4) mindful attention/awareness (O) measured over a 9-week period (T)? The participants’ non-normally distributed scores for the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS), Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), and Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) fluctuated rapidly over time between the baseline phase (3 weeks), treatment phase (5 weeks), and follow up (1 week). The effect sizes were measured using the percentages of non-overlapping data (PND) and percentages exceeding the median (PEM), indicating that the effectiveness of the CAM protocol was not consistent, because each participant responded differently. Moreover, the changes in the outcomes over time may have been caused by factors other than the CAM protocol. Nevertheless, this case-series study contributed to the knowledge of the effects of CAM among CWOAD, who have been previously underrepresented in both the clinical and research fields. The findings of this research laid the foundation for the expansion of a body of future research to develop clinical mindfulness interventions specific to CWOAD who struggle with symptoms of depression and anxiety.
